LAUSR

Local healthcare leaders in England will not be allowed to cut numbers of hospital beds unless they provide evidence that suitable alternative provision is available in the community, the head of NHS England has said. The requirement is enshrined in three new conditions that local NHS organisations will have to meet if they are planning major hospital bed closures as part of sustainability and transformation plans (STPs). Subject to the current rules that require formal public consultation on service changes, NHS England said that it would approve bed closures only if one of three new conditions is met. The announcement comes amid concern that some of the 44 STP areas in England plan to cut numbers of hospital beds despite increasing demand for care, in moves branded “lunacy” by the College of Emergency Medicine.1 Announcing the measures at the Nuffield Trust’s health policy …